Retrospectives
Tell people that they should write post-it notes about:
- What went well?
- What can be improved?
Allow 5 to 10 minutes max for people to write
They can write about any subject.
Please do not take people comments personally, let them talk, its balsamic for them as it will let them release steam.
If there is a white board then please split it into 2 parts, if not you can use a window or a wall.
One part of what went well and the other for what can be improved.
Once 5 minutes passed or if they are done earlier then start with let say the first person on your right or left
Ask the first person to read what went well and what can be improved, but point by point so that the team can agree, disagree or discuss about it.
Stick their post-it notes on the white board as the finish talking and move to next person.
It may be a big team but usually, people will write similar things so once you cover a few people the rest will go fast because lots of points may be in common.
Please admin the time so that everybody in the team has the chance to talk.
Leave at least 3 to 5 minutes at the end of the meeting to choose 3 action points that the team can probably work on so that they can get better.
Print these action points and stick them near to the Kanban board so that during the stand-up they can remember them and do something about it.
Review these action points on next retrospective to see if they got better at them.
If there is some action for the team Manager to do like finding information or maybe helping the team with it and it’s doable then try to make it happen before next retrospective, that will show them that you are listening to them and trying to help them.
You are the moderator of the meeting so it may go wild and in that case allow people to defuse, maybe stop 5 minutes for them to calm down.
Some people may not want to write anything down which it’s OK as it takes time for them to open.
But do not exclude them when commenting, even probably ask them about what they think of other people comments so that they participate.